Stop me if you've heard this one......

......Georgia plays down to the level of a weaker opponent and escapes with a win.

With the exception of two blow out losses and a couple other games, that has been the story of this season. South Carolina, Tennessee, Vandy, Kentucky and now AwwBarn. The WarBird fans I spoke to and overheard before the game all seemed assured that this game would be over before Uga woke up from his first afternoon nap.

And escapes may not be the verb of choice come to think of it. Houdini escaped. And when he did it was to loud cheers and applause. Harrison Ford escaped and evaded in The Fugitive. And in so doing raked in millions of cash. The Dawgs performed well enough to draw praise for another win at the end of a LONG road trip. But applause was superseded by an entire Dawg Nation drawing its collective breath; a breath that had been held in tight for nearly three hours.

Offensively I thought we did about as well as expected except for putting points on the board. The line opened up holes a plenty for Knowshon and when they weren't there he did his own Houdini act and opened one up for himself. Seriously, he looked like Nama avoiding traffic barrels trying to get us to Opelika Saturday morning. The man moves that surburban like he runs on the intramural field .....like a gazelle. Back on Pat Dye Field, it didn't take long for the Tiger safeties to start cheatin' up and that's where we struggled. Up in section 105 the wind was brutal. Down on the field it was much worse and even more unpredictable. Bobo and Stafford seemed determined to burn the undermanned secondary, but just couldn't hit a long one. If they had the Auburn fans' predictions may have come to fruition.

Defensively we were certainly improved. The tackling was better, but I wouldn't grade these Dawgs out with a B until they can consistently stop an opponent (especially and inferior one) at will. The D played with an intensity that was lacking in previous games, I thought. Although it still looked as if we were out of position and meandering at times. I know that the D fell well short of some lofty goals they set for themselves and there are many of us that still wonder (11 games into the season) how good this defense really is. But when you go on the road in this conference and hold the home team to 13 points, I guess ya done yer job! We have two weeks to prepare for the jackets' option. Pass the Wheaties.

Two areas that BDB grades as fat F's are special teams and penalties. Fabris refers to them as his kick teams, not as special. Observers could certainly agree with that reasoning after seeing Knox flagged for roughing the punter on one end of the play and Miller allowing the ball to bounce off of his chest at the other end. I guess it could have been worse. The ball could have pelted a lineman in the back of the helmet like a Walsh field goal attempt.

All kidding aside - the penalties are a mockery of this program, its attitude and its discipline. There's no excuse, none. Perhaps a better, more thorough assessment will follow later this week in Bernie's State of the Dawg Nation Address. Right now I'm just too disgusted.

On a lighter note, Jordan-Hare was impressive. I found myself finding different parts of the field where so many moments in Bulldog history have been born. I could see Tra Battle soaring into the endzone back in 2006. Michael Johnson gathering in Greene's pass. Craig tackled a yard short on fourth and three in college football's first overtime game. But there were other things to behold. The stadium has a very nice video board. And seeing Tiger fly from just above us to the 50 yard line was as impressive as advertised. 

With that, let's get to this week's shout-outs:

• David McElroy for his quick thinking .........at a time that necessitated it.
• AJ Green for climbing an invisible ladder and grabbing that ball as if it was ......well, as if it was the game winning catch. Here's your SEC Freshman of the Week.
• Moreno for another outstanding performance. Hard to believe that was Knowshon's first TD reception. Even harder to believe what our record would be without him.
• Tim for the fourth quarter passes to the box. It was COLD on the plains.
• Navigon and IPhone for their technological advances in avoiding construction barrels and I-85 delays. If only I'd brought an extra pair of shorts.
• And Tiger the WarEagle for not .......releasing his bowels on my Georgia cap. 

Congrats to the Namaman again for correctly posting the answer to last week's trivia. He

knew that John Heisman coached at Clemson in between stops at Auburn and North Avenue. He goes home with a case of Kosher wieners and a dozen eggs. Not sure what he may do with those. Perhaps Allen Randall, Cord Trammell and Chris "Moosehead" Miranda can give him an idea. These emailers sent in their answers which were also correct. They scored a book of the 100 best tailgatin' recipes. Page 78 is autographed by Mr. California HamDog himself, Jeremy Matteson. What a treasure!

Have a great week readers. Set your scouting TiVos for Thursday evening as the wrambled wrecks try to survive a hurricane on the flats. Tickets still available......

Bernie